New battery could "revolutionise the apabilities of appliances"

Augmented Optics and the University of Surrey, in collaboration with the University of Bristol, have created an alternative to existing battery power which they claim could "revolutionise the apabilities of appliances".

It is claimed that this supercapacitor is capable of providing battery power that is 1,000-10,000 times more powerful than existing batteries due to newly discovered materials. A big potential area for the tech is in electric cars, which would enable them to travel the same distances as petrol engines without the need for lengthy re-charging breaks.

Other applications for this alternative battery are mobile and laptop recharging in as little as just a few seconds. Domestic items such as flat screen electronic devices and industries like transport, energy generation, and aerospace could also benefit from this new power source.

Dr Ian Hamerton, reader in polymers and composite materials for the department of aerospace engineering at the University of Bristol said: “While this research has potentially opened the route to very high density supercapacitors, these polymers have many other possible uses.

“Tough, flexible conducting materials are desirable, including bioelectronics, sensors, wearable electronics, and advanced optics. We believe that this is an extremely exciting and potentially game changing development.”

Despite supercapacitor buses being already used in China, their range is limited. This breakthrough could enable them to travel further between charges.

Dr Brendan Howlin of the University of Surrey, said: “There is a global search for new energy storage technology and this new ultra capacity supercapacitor has the potential to open the door to unimaginable exciting developments.”

Jim Heathcote, chief executive of both Augmented Optics and Supercapacitor Materials, said: “It is a privilege to work with the teams from the University of Surrey and the University of Bristol.

The test results from the new polymers suggest that extremely high energy density supercapacitors could be constructed in the very new future. We are now actively seeking commercial partners in order to supply our polymers and offer assistance to build these ultra high energy density storage devices.”